By a vote of 31-22, the Georgia Senate has approved the Women’s Health and Safety Act (S.B. 456), which contains some of the nation’s strongest safeguards against dangerous chemical abortion drugs. Introduced by Sen. Bruce Thompson with 31 co-sponsors, the bill prohibits abortion pills from being dispensed via telemedicine or mail and requires an in-person examination by a qualified physician. The bill now heads to the House of Representatives.
In 2021 the Biden administration moved to weaken longstanding federal safety regulations against mail-order abortion drugs, a policy that allows for dangerous at-home, do-it-yourself abortions without necessary medical oversight.
SBA List Southern Regional Director Caitlin Connors praised the bill, saying:
“We are excited to see the Women’s Health and Safety Act advance one step closer to becoming law. While pro-abortion Democrats in Washington push abortion on demand until birth under the guise of ‘women’s health,’ Georgia lawmakers know the true public health threat mail-order abortion drugs pose to unborn children and their mothers – sending women to the emergency room at a rate that has increased more than 500% during the time since these drugs were first introduced. We thank Sen. Bruce Thompson, along with Senate President Pro Tempore Butch Miller and Sens. Jeff Mullis, Larry Walker, Steve Gooch and all pro-life members of the state Senate for standing with women and children. We urge their House colleagues to send this bill swiftly to Gov. Kemp for his signature.”
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A recent, first-of-its-kind study found that the rate of abortion-related emergency room visits following a chemical abortion increased by more than 500% from 2002 through 2015. In the last year Arizona, Arkansas, Indiana, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas have enacted state-level safeguards against mail-order abortion drugs, with additional states considering action.
Dr. Donna Harrison, who serves as CEO of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) and an associate scholar with Charlotte Lozier Institute, submitted testimony on the bill in which she stated:
“Failure to perform an in-person examination can have serious consequences for the patient, including death. For example, if a woman who has an ectopic pregnancy (i.e., a pregnancy implanted in the Fallopian tube) is given mifepristone, she is in significant danger of the ectopic pregnancy rupturing, which will cause massive internal bleeding. The symptoms of a rupturing ectopic pregnancy are identical to the symptoms that a woman experiences when she has a mifepristone abortion: bleeding, cramping and severe abdominal pain. Delay in diagnosis due to thinking that these symptoms are a ‘normal’ part of mifepristone abortion can result in massive intraabdominal hemorrhage and death…the requirements of Senate Bill 456 are medically reasonable to ensure the safety of women in Georgia who are undergoing a Mifeprex abortion.”
